Effects of flat tax reforms in Western Europe

Recent success of the flat income tax in Eastern Europe raises questions about whether there is scope for such a policy reform in Western Europe as well. We address this by estimating the potential distributional impact of various flat taxes for selected Western European countries. Our simulations show that in specific circumstances a revenue neutral flat tax reform can increase income equality and improve work incentives; however, in most cases there is an equity-efficiency trade-off. We show that the specific flat tax design and the welfare state regime play a key role. © 2009 Society for Policy Modeling.